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They moved to the stairwell with Miley in front and Jimmy in back. Damon really didn’t like this at all, but it wasn’t his op and at least they were all armed. As they moved down the stairs, the door from the ground floor opened and a shooter stepped through. Before he could get off a single shot, Miley dropped him. Damon had no doubt he was dead. Fitz had been right to hire her on at Cerberus. His woman was good at her job.
“Three down; two others we know their location—Seth if you see them move, holler—so we should only have one more. Any sign of Francesca?” she asked.
“Nothing here,” said Brock.
“I haven’t spotted her on any of the security cameras. Cops are having to pull people from the charity event. Did anyone know you were headed to your club? Isn’t it closed tonight?”
“It is, and we didn’t tell anyone, although Damon said it would have been unlikely for someone not to figure it out.” Miley turned to Damon. “Do the stairs go down to the garage?”
“Unfortunately, no. There’s an exit into the alleyway, and then we can enter the parking lot from there. The other door goes into the lobby.”
“Bad as it is, I think we’re better to go into the alley. Okay, on my signal, I’ll go high; Jimmy you go low and Damon shoot at anything that isn’t us.”
He had to smile. Not only was she cool under pressure, but she could also make a joke to try and lighten the tension. He found it interesting and reassuring that three such capable male black ops operatives had no trouble following the command of a beautiful, sexy woman.
Miley went to open the door, easing it open only to have shots fired. She slammed Damon back into the wall inside the stairwell and rolled into the alleyway firing. There was a loud grunt and then a thud as something heavy hit the street.
“Seth?”
“The guys in the lobby heard you but we have them locked in. Before they can get out, you will be with Brock.”
“I’m moving the vehicle now,” said Brock.
“Shit,” said Damon as they passed the garbage dumpster.
“What?” asked Miley, her eyes flowing down to follow his arm to where he was pointing.
Someone had stashed a body between the dumpster and the building.
“Do you know him?”
Damon nodded. “Name is Hank Watkins. He just hired on as a security guard. His job is patrolling the club after dark when it’s closed.”
Miley knelt down and felt the ground. “It’s wet with blood.” She approached the body feeling for a pulse. As she pulled her hand back, she realized there was a small piece of something clinging to her finger. Without thinking, she wiped it off on the inside of her bra so she could examine it later. “I’m sorry, Damon. He’s dead. It looks like they caught him from behind, he crawled over here to try and hide, and they finished him off.”
Brock pulled up with the SUV, and Jimmy opened the door, all but shoving Miley and Damon inside. The door closed and Brock hit the accelerator and sped off into the night. The security guard had been running for his life, and now they were, too.
CHAPTER10
MILEY
It was painful to see Damon’s sorrow at the loss of his employee. She was beginning to see he wasn’t just some cold billionaire who worked his people to death. Everyone she had encountered—whether they were an employee, a business colleague, or just someone with whom he did business—seemed to genuinely like the man. In all honesty, she couldn’t blame them. She was beginning to like him all too well.
She was at a loss as to what to say. Killing people was never easy for her. No, that wasn’t true; killing them was easy, living with it afterwards was the issue. Miley truly believed that every time she chose to end a life—and the choice was always hers even if the choice was kill or be killed—she felt like she tore off a little chunk of her soul and handed it to Satan.
The words that she bit back were unkind things like ‘I told you so,’ or ‘if we’d stayed home like I wanted to.’ Most likely that wouldn’t have changed anything but the location, and it wasn’t kind. Damon kept saying they were more alike than she could imagine. She wondered what he meant by that. She’d need to ask Fitz or perhaps JJ would be the better source of that kind of information.
She admired Fitz and JJ and their relationship. Truth to tell, she was fairly sure everyone at Cerberus or either of the clubs envied it. They didn’t necessarily want their exact relationship, as it was fairly intense, but there was no denying the love and respect that flowed between them. Fitz had become a different man when he collared and married JJ. She’d brought a softer, more introspective side to him and that had actually made him a better leader. JJ had found someone to whom she could submit and entrust all of her being. You couldn’t miss the way they responded to one another. Each was complete without the other, but they were happier and better having come together.
“There’s nothing you could have done to have stopped the attack,” she started, wanting to comfort him.
“Isn’t there? I could have left the auction and gone back to the house. Hell, I could have skipped the damn event, but no, I had to show you off. I had to show all of Charleston that I had a gorgeous, intelligent, sane woman at my side. Maybe if I’d checked my fucking ego at the door, Hank would still be alive.”
“You’re wrong. I thought of all that and rejected it. If it hadn’t been the club, it would have been the house or maybe even the charity gala. Look at it this way; we got her attention.”
“They were gunning for me…”
“Maybe,” said Miley speculatively, “but they could have just as easily been gunning for me. I personally think it’s the latter. In her deranged mind, if she gets rid of me, she gets you back. She knows as long as I’m in the picture, she doesn’t have a chance of that happening.”
